Poll

Opinion

Yes, it is time to include politician as a career. I think this may have occurred when we established a federal government. I am not sure at this moment what are the qualifications to be a politician. For most jobs, there is a set of criteria; for example, to be a doctor (someone that affects the life of their charges), one must demonstrate exceptional intelligence and wisdom. For a lawyer, a demonstration of logic and righteousness in cause set the standard.

The names that we are given we carry for the rest of our lives, unless we choose to change them, of course. Women who marry usually take the last name of their husband, and many movie stars of the last century shed their original names at the behest of the studio bosses to project a certain image.

Tuesday night during his State of the Union Address, President Obama outlined objectives intended to help the middle class. Among these proposed initiatives included child care, raising minimum wage, and free community college. He emphasized “turning the page” from a struggling economy to one that has recovered. Boasting lower unemployment numbers, Obama declared, “The verdict is clear. Middle class economics works. Expanding opportunity works.”

Democracy can be messy, whether it is in the halls of Congress or at City Hall. Just ask anyone who has sat through a few City Council meetings in just about any area.

Too often, input from the public can be viewed by elected officials as a distraction or inconvenience from running an “efficient” meeting. People who show up are often upset, not always well-informed on every issue and can say things in public that are unfair to the targets of their ire.

There have been some elected bodies that have found ways to minimize visitors.

Stopping by a booth at the Arts and Crafts Festival this past weekend, I saw a display for good old days memorabilia. It had a photo of an old outhouse. An old frame house was in one picture and another had an antique car. Some were just quotes detailing how much more respectful kids were decades ago and that manners were a mark of the day. Old School was a title on one poster detailing how to discipline a child, spare the rod, spoil the child type stuff. It did bring back a lot of memories.

I urge the voters of District 4 to elect David Shields as their magistrate.

I have personally known David Shields since he was my student at Old Kentucky Home Junior High.

He is a diligent, hardworking, honest man. I remember him as a hard-working seventh-grader doing odd jobs after school, on weekends, and during summers. As a result of ambitious hard work, he is a successful business owner.

Most of us have frequented his store Olde Delaney’s Grocery, and have been greeted and often served by David.

I wanted to take the time to write and ask the good people of Nelson County in joining me in support of Tim Hutchins as our next county judge.

It has been an honor to be able to call Tim a good friend. He is not only a public servant but a local business leader. He knows the importance of creating jobs. He also knows the importance of helping everyday folks out who just needs a helping hand.

Recently, hundreds of thousands marched throughout the world demanding action on climate change, and 120 world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations Summit on Climate Change. What can we do?

A 2006 U.N. report estimated that meat production accounts for 18 percent of man-made greenhouse gases. A 2009 article in the respected World Watch magazine suggested that the contribution may be closer to 50 percent.

The St. Joseph’s Men’s Club would like to thank all of the players, sponsors and donors of their golf scramble held at Woodlawn Springs Golf Club Sept. 7, 2014. We appreciate your generous gifts and all of your donations. They enable us to continue our support of St. Joseph School and Bethlehem’s school projects, as well as other projects within St. Joseph’s parish.

The Kentucky Home Master Gardeners would like to thank all of the generous contributors and vendors who helped make this year’s Blooming Bardstown Garden Tour and Marketplace a big success. This event is our primary fundraiser in support of our programs throughout the year.

I was interested and a bit amused to find my name in the paper for my support for Audrey Haydon’s campaign for state representative. This amusement was compounded by the implication that I am part of some (nefarious) out-of-the-area Democratic party machine trying to buy this election. As a life-long Republican who chose to live here because of the strength of our local community and people, nothing could be further from the truth.

I read a letter in the May 28 edition connecting Alison Lundergan Grimes to President Barack Obama, but it used common misrepresentations of his record.

The letter stated, “she supports the Obama agenda, which has been the greatest job killer since the Great Depression.” It later added “The only jobs government can create require the taking of resources from the private sector (where real jobs are created) and putting people on the public payroll.”

Margie Bradford’s column on Friday, May 23, was spot on. It seems that with every passing year members of Congress spend more time either campaigning, fundraising for elections, or meeting with special interest groups and less time being available to their constituents, being in the House or Senate chambers, or even showing up to vote on bills.

I don’t blame any citizen, farmer, or organization that accepts money from the proposed pipeline, but it feels like our community is being bought out with grand promises of jobs (temporary), economic opportunity and high safety standards.

(Google: pipeline explosions).

I speak as someone whose farm is crossed by two pipelines, and I have yet to see a positive environmental impact from either of the companies.

Let’s make this a safe year by putting on those helmets when we bike, skateboard, and drive scooters and ATVs.

Children need to have helmets even when they are on their tricycles. Children will not resist wearing helmets if adults set a good example by wearing helmets themselves. Most serious and fatal head injuries could be prevented if parents would just spend $l5-$20 for a helmet.

The City of Bardstown’s smoking ban states “in order to serve the public health, safety and general welfare, it is the declared purpose of this chapter to prohibit smoking in all buildings open to the public and other establishments where employees work on the premises.” Ordinance No. B2010-04.

Adam Smith said, in 1776, that wealthy masters would “force” workers to accept their terms or starve and masters would join in keeping wages at a starvation level.

Their success in doing that was noted in Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum in May 1891. Pope Leo XIII saw “The misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class.” He supported unions.